Come out strong, make the opposition sweat, and punch in a goal when the opportunity arises.

Attack. Attack. Attack.

“We wanted to start on the front foot,” said Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. of his soccer team’s approach to Wednesday night’s upset — a 2-1 victory — of the host Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place.

“We knew if we started well, we knew we could silence the crowd.”

A goal, to boot, would mean a massive advantage for Cavalry in the third-round series of the Canadian Championship.

And so it came, right on cue, due to that early pressure and gameplan.

Jordan Brown’s blast into an open corner after chasing down an upfield feed from Nik Ledgerwood came in just the seventh minute of the series’ second leg, all but wrapping up a berth for Cavalry in the championship tournament’s semifinals.

Drawn up to perfection, you might say, to follow up the scoreless draw two weeks earlier between the clubs at Spruce Meadows’ ATCO Field — although the two defenders who over-ran Ledgerwood’s pass allowing Brown to pounce on the loose ball might argue that.

“What we talked about in the locker room was if we could come out strong in the first 10 minutes and kind of weather the storm, that might change the atmosphere of the crowd a little bit and not let the Whitecaps get into the game,” Ledgerwood said. “It wasn’t the loudest that I’ve heard BC Place, and that’s something we noticed as players. And that kind of pushes you when you see the fans kind of going against the home team.

“I think that early goal kind of killed the atmosphere.”

Not that there was much positive spirit to begin with in the big building.

For a crowd of 16,089 fans, there wasn’t much buzz.

Cavalry FC celebrate a victory at the end of the game following third round CPL Canadian Championships soccer action between Cavalry FC and Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place in Vancouver, BC Wednesday, July 24, 2019. Cavalry won 2-1 over the Whitecaps.Jim Wells /
Postmedia

It was more trepidation coming from a fanbase that’s lamenting a struggling Whitecaps team, which is 4-11-8 in Major Soccer League action this year.

After all, supporters — some sporting paper bags over their heads to show their embarrassment for such an ugly season — were concerned — and rightfully so — about losing to a team from what’s deemed to be a lesser league.

Meanwhile, the fervent fans of Cavalry FC — many making the long trek to the West Coast — were in full throat in downtown Vancouver.

“There were about 400 of our fans there (pre-game),” said Wheeldon Jr. “And they kept coming in, pouring in. Every time we’d turn around, there was more and more green and red in the corner of BC Place. It was humbling.”

But it was also oh-so encouraging.

And it further pumped up the Canadian Premier League powerhouse Cavalry to take full advantage of the situation at hand, as it went about its merry way in delivering a final blow to a down-and-out bunch.

“By scoring early, it brought the crowd down, and we could hear our crowd and their pounding,” said Wheeldon Jr. “And that was a helluva pass by Nik Ledgerwood up to Jordan Brown, who did what we brought him in to do. He scored for us. What a finish.

“By scoring that goal, we knew then they needed two to beat us, and we don’t concede many goals. Even their goal went in off a deflection.”

Indeed, the Whitecaps rallied as best they could, getting a goal from In-Beom Hwang in the 67th minute after the ball pinballed back into his stride from about 12 yards in front of the Cavs net.

But instead of falling apart in the midst of allowing the Whitecaps to climb back into the contest and possibly feed off some home, the Cavs continued with their attack, getting insurance in the 72nd minute on a header in tight from Dominick Zator off a perfectly placed corner kick from Jose Escalante.

From there, it was up a former Whitecaps player, Cavs goalkeeper Marco Carducci, to turn back the Whitecaps. He stopped two shots game-long and got help late from another former Whitecaps player turned Cavs star, as seasoned defender Mason Trafford headed a ball out of danger in the goal box.

Game won.

Series done.

And a ton of pride embraced by Wheeldon & Co.

“Very proud,” said Wheeldon Jr. “Feeling proud of my players, the ownership group and fans. Very proud of what we’ve accomplished as a brand new team and a brand new league.

“It has to be up there as one of the greatest victories we’ve had.”

It’s tops, to be sure.

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The series victory gives the Cavs a trip to the semifinal round of the Canadian Championship, the annual national soccer competition open to all premier professional teams in Canada, with the victor being awarded the Voyageurs Cup and the nation’s berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. In the semis, they’ll play the MLS’ Montreal Impact, which earlier Wednesday, defeated York9 FC 1-0 to win their series on aggregate 3-2. Leg 1 of the Cavalry-Impact series goes Wednesday, Aug. 7, at Stade Saputo in Montreal. The second leg is then scheduled a week later, Wednesday, Aug. 14, at ATCO Field … The other third-round series saw the Ottawa Fury, a USL Championship squad, edge the CPL’s HFX Wanderers FC, 5-4 on aggregate after Wednesday’s 2-2 draw in the Nation’s Capital … Cavalry (3-0) returns to CPL fall season action Saturday against host Valour FC (0-1-1) at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg (11 a.m., OneSoccer.ca).

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